More police warn of AI voice scams
By Greg Collier
AI voice spoofing refers to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology to imitate or replicate a person’s voice in a way that may deceive listeners into thinking they are hearing the real person. This technology can be used to generate synthetic voices that closely mimic the tone, pitch, and cadence of a specific individual. The term is often associated with negative uses, such as creating fraudulent phone calls or audio messages with the intent to deceive or manipulate.
Scammers can exploit a brief audio clip of your family member’s voice, easily obtained from online content. With access to a voice-cloning program, the scammer can then imitate your loved one’s voice convincingly when making a call, leading to potential deception and manipulation. Scammers have quickly taken to this technology in order to fool people into believing their loved ones are in danger in what are being called family emergency scams.
Family emergency scams typically break down into two categories, the virtual kidnapping scam, and the grandparent scam. Today, we’re focused on the grandparent scam. It garnered its name from the fact that scammers often target elderly victims, posing as the victim’s grandchild in peril. This scam has been happening a lot lately in the Memphis area, to the point where a Sheriff’s Office has issued a warning to local residents about it.
One family received a phone call that appeared to be coming from their adult granddaughter. The caller sounded exactly like their granddaughter, who said they needed $500 for bail money after getting into a car accident. Smartly, the family kept asking the caller questions that only their granddaughter would know. The scammers finally hung up.
To safeguard against this scam, it’s crucial to rely on caution rather than solely trusting your ears. If you receive a call from a supposed relative or loved one urgently requesting money due to a purported crisis, adhere to the same safety measures. Resist the urge to engage further; instead, promptly end the call and independently contact the person who is claimed to be in trouble to verify the authenticity of the situation. This proactive approach helps ensure protection against potential scams, even when the voice on the call seems identical to that of your loved one.
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